


Drift

by Fanhag102



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M, Pacific Rim AU, giant robots and aliens from the ocean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-28
Updated: 2013-07-28
Packaged: 2017-12-21 14:36:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/901428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fanhag102/pseuds/Fanhag102
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Short Pacific Rim Sterek AU as requested by rakushi on tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Drift

**Author's Note:**

> I originally wanted Derek as Raleigh and Stiles as the son from the father/son jaeger team but I also reeeeally wanted them to drift together so instead Stiles is Mako oops.

"Derek. Good to see you again."

"What do you want, General Stilinski?"

He looked old. Older than he should have looked for that five years since Derek last saw him. Derek didn't have to watch the news or listen to the worried panic that was spreading through the people--he only had to look at his old general to know they were losing. His arm throbbed and he shifted his shoulder, too used to the pain to bother worrying about it anymore.

"I'm sorry, son, but I have to ask a terrible favor from you." 

Derek only stared, but something told him the other man knew what his answer would be.

______

The kid looks like the General, even with rain-drenched hair and big amber eyes that suck Derek in the moment he sees them. The kid eyes Derek suspiciously and leans up to whisper something in his father's ear.

"He looks different than I thought he would."

"Different how?" Derek asks and doesn't care to hide his smirk. He flushes, only at the tips of his ears and glances sharply at Derek, raising his chin and replying with a tongue so sharp Derek can just imagine the kind of trouble it gets him into,

"Thought you'd be taller."

General Stilinski sighs, long-sufferingly, and motions to his son.

"Derek Hale, this is Stiles Stilinski. He's the one who's been overseeing the restoration of your  _Wolfsbane_  and chosen your potential drift partners, who you'll be meeting tomorrow."

"Come on," Stiles motions for Derek to follow him. "I'll show you to your Jaeger and to the room you'll be staying in while your here." 

He leads Derek to the main Jaeger loading dock, smiling and waving to some twenty people as they go. He keeps glancing back at Derek again and again, like he's going to say something, but never does. Derek isn't sure what to make of that, but there's something about this kid--a feeling he can't place just yet. 

Stiles heads towards a green painted Jaeger Derek's seen on TV a few times and nods up at it. 

"That's the  _Kanima._  She's wicked fast and piloted by Danny and Jackson over there. Danny's awesome but Jackson's a total douchebag, just ignore him if he tries to say anything to you."

He points to the Red and yellow Jaeger in the far corner and explains,

"That's  _True Alpha_ , the only Jaeger piloted by three people in a three-way drift. Scott, Allison, and Isaac are it's pilots. They're awesome, and some of the strongest pilots i've ever seen. And here's yours,  _Wolfsbane_. Weird name though, dude, anyone ever tell you that?"

"My sister picked it," Derek replies softly, staring up at his old Jaeger who looks like new. It was almost like the whole thing never happened, that Laura never...

Derek shakes his head, trying to clear away the memories that never seem to fade, that suddenly come up from nowhere like phantom wounds, burning through his mind and sending jolts of pain through his arm. He glances to his left and Stiles is staring at him with cautious, observing eyes.

"Are you sure you can do this mission?" he asks bluntly, leading Derek down an empty hallway and stopping in front of a solid door that must be the entrance to his room. 

"Not really," Derek answers just as bluntly, though he doesn't appreciate being called out by some kid who's probably never even been in a Jaeger. "Why, you think you could do a better job?"

Stiles makes a "huff" sound and stares Derek down with those wide eyes of his. He crosses his arms and Derek can't help but find him infuriatingly interesting. 

"What if I do? I have a pretty good training record, you know. 48 drops and 48 kills. Even Lydia only got 47 out of 48."

"Who's Lydia?"

"Oh, uh, she's one of the people I have lined up to test for drift compatibility with you tomorrow."

"Are you going to test too?" Derek asks, hoping for some reason that the answer will be yes. 

Instantly Stiles looks uncomfortable, gaze dropping to his feet that nervously tap against the concrete floors. 

"That--that's not, uh--" he mumbles, expression flickering from angry to resigned as he struggles to find the words. "That won't be happening."

"If you think you'd be such a great pilot then why--"

"Because!" Stiles snaps before turning on his heel and marching across the hallway to his room. He flings open the door and walks inside, turning back to Derek before slamming it closed and saying,

"You better get a good nights sleep! No one's gonna go easy on you tomorrow."

"Thanks for the warning," Derek mutters to the closed door. 

______

The redhead must be Lydia and she is good, Derek will admit. Her fighting style is smooth and her attacks clean and precise--it almost makes Derek feel bad about taking her down so easily. 

He glances over at Stiles who's standing just beside his father on the edge of the matt. He makes the face again, the same pinched one he makes every time Derek wins a match, which so far has been every time. 

It happens again with the blonde, who's ferocious but too weak to keep up with Derek, and again with the big, tall guy who matches Derek's strength but could never meet his speed. It's just a little quirk of the lips, a barely-there roll of the eyes and as soon as he gets the third hit on the skinny brunette he spins and growls,

"Do you have a problem?"

The kid gapes at him, wide eyed and at a complete loss for words. 

"You keep making a face. Every time I win, you make the face."

"I--I'm not making any faces!"

"You are."

"This is just my face!"

"I think," Derek steps towards him, grinning, "you think you would have a better chance of beating me yourself." 

"No." It's the General who says it, stance firm as his son turns on him, pleading silently.  _Oh_ , Derek thinks, because it suddenly makes sense. The General's glaring at Derek like it's all his fault. Maybe it is, but Derek will piss off even John Stilinski if it means getting to test himself against that strong-willed, bright-eyed son of his. 

"What? Don't think your son can last against me?"

"Dad--Dad I can take him!"

"No," Derek smirks. "I think your dad's right, kid. You're all talk."

"Son," the General says, low and dangerous. Derek can see Stiles holding his breath, hands clenched into eager fists. "Kick his ass." 

Derek tries (and probably fails) to hide his smile as Stiles whoops and punches the air, kicking off his shoes and tossing his jacket to the side in seconds. He starts circling Derek the moment he steps onto the mat, without waiting for a signal or the crowd to quiet down. It shows initiative; good instinct in a fight to strike first. Derek falls in with him easily, spots and opening, and takes it. 

"One, zero."

"Yeah, yeah," Stiles murmurs under his breath, eyes darting, racing up Derek's neck, down to his chest, his feet then his hands, everywhere. He darts to the side, Derek spins to meet him and Stiles uses it to trip him and take a point.

"One, one."

The rest of the match is much of the same. They keep trying to one up each other, then they meet in a stalemate, and halfway through Derek is sure, he knows, and he won't take no for an answer. 

"I won't drift with anyone but him," Derek looks General Stilinski in the eye and says flatly. He can feel Stiles' eyes on his back, but he stands firm. 

General Stilinski turns and walks away.

______

He dreams of Laura. Of her yelling at him about his thick skull and his childish selfishness. Of her flicking his forehead and slamming him into the mat for getting distracted. Of her smiling and telling him not to get cocky that morning before their last mission together. 

He suits up and goes to the  _Wolfsbane_  even though he's pretty sure it won't be Stiles who shows up suited next to him. He's sure General Stilinski has his reasons, however unjust they might be. The Kaiju will come whether or not Stiles is his drift partner; he needs to stop pretending he's the only one who matters in this war. 

"I thought it'd be warmer in here."

Derek spins to see Stiles, looking slim and fit in his Jaeger gear, grinning that same grin. He approaches the empty side of the control room, pretending to glance around but looking back at Derek every few seconds. 

"Central air," he replies lightly. Something shimmers in the younger's eyes.

This is going to be fun.

___________

Derek wasn't really surprised that no one wanted to have anything to do with him when he entered the cafeteria. He had almost destroyed half of the base singlehandedly. Well, not singlehandedly...there was Stiles.

Stiles, who meets his gaze from across the room ands nods towards the stairs. They wind up having lunch on the edge of some unfinished part of the base with concrete walls and iron supports. 

Stiles speaks first. 

"I..." he hesitates, staring thoughtfully towards the ground below them. "I read the file on your Alaska mission. It never said--"

"That I was still in Laura's head when she died?" 

"Yeah."

"Sorry you had to see it too." 

"Sorry I lost it. Almost blew up the base. Got both of us benched. Need I go on?"

"It was my fuck up," Derek tries telling him, though he knows Stiles won't listen. He was in the kid's head after all. 

It just hit him all of the sudden; they'd been drifting so well and then one minute he'd turned to find Stiles smiling at him and the next minute it was Laura and it all came rushing back. Derek knew it was his fault but he couldn't help but think it was worse because it was the Wolfsbane--his and Laura's jaeger. It was the Jaeger they learned to fight in, where they joked and teased each other before a battle, the same Jaeger she died in and the same Jaeger Derek had to pilot alone to destroy the son of a bitch Kaiju who killed her. The memories came like a tidal wave but Derek got them under control relatively quickly. 

It was too late though; Stiles was already completely out of phase. 

He'd been so young when it happened, it took Derek by surprise. He was just a little kid who lost his mom in the hurry to evacuate the city and wound up right in the middle of a Kaiju/Jaeger fight. Derek can't do anything but watch as a young Stiles covers his ears and gets low to the shaking ground, crying and shivering like he can barely breathe. 

As soon as it was over the General had forbid Stiles to get back in the Jaeger, no matter how much Stiles had pleaded for another chance. 

"He's just trying to protect you. He doesn't wanna lose you--"

"Like he lost my mom?" Stiles finishes for him, sighing deeply and rubbing his hand across the back of his neck. Derek nods. 

"I know. I know. I just--I want to fight. I feel like I have to!"

As soon as he says it the alarms start going off. He and Derek leap to their feet and Derek can't help but think,  _you might just get the chance_.

________

"You have to send the  _Wolfsbane_  out, sir."

"Hale, you do not get to tell me what I have to do. And with exactly what crew should I send the  _Wolfsbane_  out with, might I ask?"

"Us," Stiles says, standing just to Derek's left. 

"Because that worked out so well the first time," General Stlilinski scoffs. 

"You don't have any other choice."

"I won't let my friends--"Stiles pauses and thinks about something before continuing firmly, "--or Jackson, die." 

Father and son stare at each other silently for what feels like minutes before the General curses quietly and turns around. 

It's as good an answer as any, and Derek will take it. He and Stiles practically run to get suited up and before he even realizes it he's being dropped onto the battlefield with Stiles by his side--and the drift is going perfectly. 

They draw the Kaiju's attentions away from the powerless  _Kanima_  and  _True Alpha_ , towards the city. Derek hears Stiles worry about whether or not the people are safe if they fight in the city and Derek growls sharply,

"Don't worry about that right now, Stiles. Focus on this fight."

"Right," Stiles says, and starts loading the canon as the bigger one comes barreling straight at them. 

It dies easier than they could have hoped... and then the other one grows wings. It grabs them and starts pulling them up into the sky, not slowing down even as Derek and Stiles put up their best fight. It's holding them up thousands of miles above the earth, they're losing oxygen fast and Derek isn't sure they can make it out of this.

"I think we're out of options," he tells Stiles, already feeling sleepy, even though some part of him is desperately trying to fight it off. 

"We have one last option," Stiles says, reaching out to the control console. He turns to Derek and flexes his fingers. "The claws."

Derek feels them extending from the knuckles of both hands; long, sharp pieces of metal that are their last salvation against this monster. He wonders why he didn't think of them. They raise each hand together, stabbing the Kaiju in the throat with as much force as they can muster and then pulling and ripping it's head clean off. It's horribly satisfying for a fraction of a second and then they're falling. 

Derek will never know how they manage to stick the landing but in their moment of triumph Derek wishes he could be by Stiles' side forever.

__________

"I wish I'd met you sooner," Stiles says as they're falling into the pit. He's facing forward when Derek turns to him. 

"I wish we'd had more time and we didn't have to save the world and I wish I were braver because I should have told you how much I liked you on the first day I met you. Shit!"

"Stiles," Derek says just before pressing Stiles' ejection pod button. "You'd better live."

_________

When he hears Stiles' voice he thinks he's dead, but then he feels his weight, and the crushing way he's holding him and repeating "don't be dead! Don't be dead! Don't be dead!" into Derek's shoulder is too real and all he can do is try and hug Stiles back and groan,

"Not yet." 

Stiles gasps and presses their foreheads together like he's trying to read Derek's mind. Derek just smiles.

He's pretty sure Stiles already knows what he's thinking. 


End file.
